Thawing Hearts and Mythical Creature
by Keep.Film.Alive
Summary: AU. The White Queen has long ruled these lands, her vanity and greed silver-lined her every move as the wretched woman replaced her deceased husband's throne. When word reaches her of the crystalline antlered creature wondering the west forest, she sends her lover off to hunt down the beast and bring back its head. The beast was nothing Erik expected it to be.


Title: Thawing Hearts and Mythical Creatures

Pairing: Charles Xavier and Erik Lehnsherr

Fandom: X-Men: First Class

Rated: T

Notes: I've recently grown a love of humans with antlers and felt the need to turn Charles into some enchanted, beautiful creature, not that he already isn't one. I'll try to flesh this out as much as I can, I'm used to writing one-shots in the 1,000-2,000 word range, so I'll do my best to stretch it out for a few chapters. This story may also turn M rated down the line, I'll change the rating if it does. It all depends on the feedback. Please review!

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Autumn settled in swiftly through the kingdom in the valley. The outlining forest glistened in waves of a rich gold and smoldering amber when the wind stroked its gentle hands over the falling leaves like a child playing with her sister's hair. It was cool, rain fell when needed and the sun shone brilliantly just so. Crops grew more vastly than ever before and livestock never fell short. It was the best year by far in ages and it was all due to the queen the kingdom so desperately hated.

Wealth, food, supplies and clothing were not a problem as they used to be under the rule of King Shaw, after he died and the White Queen over took his reign the land had never been so fruitful. But it was only for this that the village folk never spoke ill of her. If the land and living conditions had stayed the same, they would have over thrown her years ago. You see, when she had fallen into power, though she had given the land back the greatness it once possessed and treated the villagers as her own flesh and blood, she also believed in absolute zero tolerance…

The smallest of crimes, even if forgiven by the victim, were punishable by ten years to life in the prison chambers or as a slave, the option was yours. No second chances were given, once your sentence was up, you were either exiled or killed, your fate was chosen solely on what the queen deemed fit. She weeded out the filth of her people and rewarded whomever was left with prosperity and safety. The one condition that stood above the rest under her rule is so: Follow her religion, worship her as their deity as their recent king had done, practice no other religion or be executed for treason. She used their desire to continue living in prosper to make them kneel. Being their queen was not enough, she needed more to fuel her vanity and this was the safest way. If they removed her from the throne, they would dwindle back into the wretched, filthy, hungry, lost collection of broken souls they were before.

They needed her therefore they tolerated her.

It was perfect

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"Goddess, my queen, you called for me?" Erik knelt before his deity and kissed the hand that so gently caressed his cheek.

"My Erik, my loyal, _obedient_, strong and _courageous_ Erik." His eyes closed slowly as she turned away, flowing cape of white fur bellowing behind her. He knew she meant to ask something of him, something awful. She once had called him those same words before asking him to kill a man. His eyes opened again when she had remained silent. "Exciting news has reached my ears recently. You-" She turned to him again and gave him an expectant smile, "you are aware of my fascination with mythical creatures, yes?"

"Of course, my queen." Stalking slowly up to Erik and leading him up tenderly with a finger to his chin, she motioned for the guards to leave them.

"A handful of hunters spotted something in the west woods two days ago. A pure white buck with limpid antlers and long fur." Her eyes glistened with excitement as she leaned closer, lips ghosting over the shell of his ear. "They watched it morph into a human, still possessing the glass-like horns." Erik steeled himself, bracing for the worst. Killing another human was hard enough, and he was raised to be a hunter so killing wildlife was no real threat to his morality, but the thought of killing an enchanted creature for this woman's amusement caused him question his loyalty to the wench. "I want his head, Erik, and you are the only man I trust with this task." She pulled back just enough to look him in the eye but to no avail, his head tilted forward and his gaze remained glued to the floor. She bit her lip and soothingly traced her fingers down his jaw and neck, his gaze remained so. "Erik, it is long overdue, but if you do this for me, I promise to you, I will make you my king. We will finally be able to rule this land together, as equals, you and I. But I want _that head_ and _those antlers_ and I _know_ it will take time to track him down, so please, answer me now and your fate will be filled with all of the honor and glory you could ever hope to achieve, _m_y_ love._"

Erik Lehnsherr was many things, but the one thing he was not was a coward.

The man snatched her wrist from his neck and squeezed just over firmly but not enough to physically hurt her. His dull blue eyes burned into her emerald greens, the tips of their noses just barely touching.

"I don't want your damn throne. I've all the honor and glory I need, don't you dare insinuate otherwise. I'll hunt the damn beast, but do not think for a second that I want to be your equal. I'm already above you and I like it right here, thanks." Erik tossed her arm away and turned to leave. "I'll be gone by dawn tomorrow and don't worry, I won't return until I've found your pretty new toy, _goddess_."

;

For the first two weeks, Erik attempted to smoke the beast into a corner, back it up and trap it against the wall of Godrick cliff. The area was littered with boulders and if it tried to run, it wouldn't get far before it stepped into one of his pre-set net traps. He had no idea if the beast could break out with magical powers or not but it was worth a shot. Enchanted creatures such as this weren't exactly uncommon, it's just that when they did appear, you were to leave them be or the gods would curse you for harming their special creations. They were above the humans, to touch one was practically considered sin, it tainted them in a way we as humans could never understand. This creature in particular was very rare. It was never given an official name but Erik's heard of them several times in stories as a child. They're antlers were clear and glass-like, it's been mentioned that you can see small bubbles in the horns as well, air or magic pockets of some sort. Their fur is the purest white and it sits as it does on a normal deer, but from just under the head leading down to its belly, the fur is longer by some inches, along with the tail and around the hooves. Their hooves were that of a normal deer, yet onyx black and never cracked or wore down. They were strong, their legs taught, shoulders and hind courters bulging in a masculine way, their neck thick and robust. And their eyes, large, round and blacker than the night sky, in fact, it's rumored that you can even see the stars in them, as if the night sky literally existed in their eyes.

Erik wasn't sure if he would be able to do this, in all honesty, he just wanted to see one for himself, touch its fur, feel its antlers, look into its eyes and gape in its enchanted glory. He wasn't sure how he'd respond, if he'd jump to it and get the job over with, if he'd freeze in his tracks, if he'd just hide and watch in awe…

After the last of the flames were lit and the smoke lifted up through the trees, Erik positioned himself in the shadows of Godrick cliff and waited, he was prepared to wait as long as he needed to. Daylight was fading and the Autumn night chill began to sink it's fangs into Erik's exposed skin. He pulled his bear skin around him, the fur tickling around his neck. He noted that four hours ago, two of the flames had smoldered out and the last of the smoke columns were dying. He would give up for the day and start again tomorrow, checking places that the beast could hide in, he didn't worry or fret over the lack of results for the smoke out but he did begin to go over a list of other methods to track down and corner the creature. Erik closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the stone wall. A few moments had passed when he heard a twig snap somewhere by the tree line. He suspected it was just a wolf or rabbit maybe. Several more snaps followed and the familiar sound of deer groaning snapped Erik out of his trance. The sun was barely still out, leaving the sky gold and pink, just bright enough to catch the near glowing white that passed slowly through the darkness under the trees.

Erik leaned up against the boulder hiding him, he watched quietly, as still as he could be, he became the stone that was in front of him. Another pained groan and there it was, limping out of the tree line. Its back left leg hovered off the ground as the creature did its best to walk to the boulders for protection. It didn't look bloody, Erik concluded that it must have sprained it somehow, on a rock maybe. Erik finally turned his attention to the rest of the creature and felt his heart stop in its tracks. It was everything the stories described. It was the most beautiful thing Erik could ever imagine, to hear its features listed off is one thing, but to see it with your own eyes, he truthfully wasn't sure he was even alive anymore. But before he could fully take in the sight before him, the creature fell into one of his net traps behind some large stones and Erik knew what he had to do.

Hunting knife in hand, Erik sprinted to the boulders where the creature had disappeared to, the loud cries ringing in his ears. For a split second, Erik's heart seemed to slow and his eyes became unfocused, his body slowing and drooping involuntarily before kicking back up and rounding the large stone. What lay before him caused him to drop to his knees.

A young man, seemingly about his own age, curled up and nude. The crystalline antlers tangled in the net protruded from a head of messy brunette hair. The man's eyes moved frantically but from what Erik could see, they appeared almost ice blue. He noted the bright red thin lips and freckles sprinkling the pale body before him. Fingers hooked through the net, trying to pull and push, small groans and whimpers as the man… thing, tried to free himself. Something about this… this majestic being was just as breathtaking as the form previous. Erik was pulled out of his trance again when he noticed that it had stopped moving and was staring directly at him with cautious yet pleading eyes, nostrils flaring with still panicked breaths. Erik breathed deeply and crawled up next to it slowly, knife hovering just above its body. Erik placed his free hand on the being's shoulder and gave it a reassuring nod.

"I'm not going to hurt you, I promise."

Erik still remembers how innocent and gentle that voice was when he thinks back on that day, hearing for the first time a creature of myth speak to him in his native tongue.

"'_I know you will not harm me, Erik Lehnsherr._'"


End file.
